Fresh supplies, at last!

Just over a week late, the bunnies' supplies finally arrived this
afternoon. We were allowed to keep the 4 bags of hay which had arrived
from the first order, and a whole new second order, so now have 10 bags
of hay! They were also kind enough to pass on a voucher as compensation.

Mabel and Dijon have fresh litter, fresh hay, and some Readigrass as a
treat... they say that all is right with the world, but have warned me
that if I EVER let supplies run so low again, they will carry out their
plan to cause further extensive cable damage in the living room...

Litter Let-down: Update

Several emails and two phone calls later, the mystery is solved and we
have discovered that most of our order has been sent to the wrong postcode.

Goodness knows how they managed to get one parcel to us, and one to an
address just over 250 miles away... just that rather essential first
letter of the postcode! I imagine the recipient was rather bemused, no
wonder they refused to accept delivery. Very few people require 60
litres of litter and 4 bags of hay!

Anyway, we've been told it has now been dispatched, so - assuming it's
addressed with all the right letters in all the right places - we
shouldn't have to endure this terrible bunny wee smell for much longer.
Mabel and Dijon have no problem doing their business on old hay in their
trays instead of litter, but we are noticing the difference!!

Chewing, Grooming, and being the King - or rather Queen - of the Castle

Fresh Air

"What's that, you want me to come in because you are freezing with the
patio doors wide open? Not a chance!"

Mabel enjoys some fresh air most days, whatever the weather. Dijon
mostly sits on the threshold, occasionally poking his nose outside, and
we freeze indoors!

Litter Let-down

Mabel and Dijon have been sadly let-down by their usual supplier, a certain online Supermarket for Pets... they were running low on litter, so asked me to order two large bags of their favourite 'Back 2 Nature' paper-based litter, back on Sunday 18th, to arrive well before the last supplies ran out. To qualify for free delivery, I also ordered some hay.

Three days later a parcel arrived - just 2 of the 6 bags of hay. No litter. I emailed immediately... a response 2 days later informed me that the second parcel had been 'refused collection'. I imagine they had tried to put the 2 heavy bags of litter in the same box, and the courier had refused to take it.

Anyway, despite several emails from me, I've heard nothing since. Very annoying... but, more importantly, we have now run out of litter!

Our local stores don't stock 'Back 2 Nature', or other paper-based litters. Male slave went out yesterday, and bought a small pack of Wilko Wood-based cat litter, but it is labelled 'pine fresh', and I'm reluctant to use it, as I remembered that pine isn't great for bunnies.

In fact, I did a quite check online, and found a couple of really interesting articles, about how the danger is actually the pine aroma, rather than any hazard of ingestion -

Litterboxes and Liver Disease

			Litterboxes and Liver Disease Litterboxes and Liver Disease MARINELL HARRIMAN   In consultation with Marliss Geissler, DVM, and Carolynn Harvey, DVM
			View on www.rabbit.org	Preview by Yahoo

 

The Dangers of Softwood Shavings

			The Dangers of Softwood Shavings The Dangers of Softwood Shavings George Flentke, Ph.D.   The use of pine and cedar as litter for house rabbits should be avoided.
			View on www.rabbit.org	Preview by Yahoo

 

Although these both refer to 'shavings' rather than pellets, I still don't want to risk it. So the poor bunnies now have old hay in their trays, whilst I decide whether to place another order elsewhere for another £30+ (seems standard requirement now for free delivery). I know the minute I do that, my missing items from p supermarket will turn up!!

Christmas plans

Mabel has been admiring the Christmas decorations, gazing from a
distance... and, by the look in her eye, it seems that she might be
planning some bunnification, just the odd 'tweak' here and there, maybe
some rearrangement of tree lights cable?! Let's hope Father Christmas
brings some treats for her and Dijon, enough to distract from those
attractive decorations.

This week...

The bunnies have been sleeping... sleeping... sleeping... eating the final harvest of carrot tops... and plotting their next escape to explore the delights of Cable Corner.

Another Phone Cable in Cable Heaven

Yes, the naughty bunnies have been up to more mischief. This time it was
their little girl-slave who absent-mindedly let them out into forbidden
territory.

She was the first to go downstairs in the morning. She gave the bunnies
their breakfast, and let them out of their cage, which she often does on
weekdays. Unfortunately, nobody else was downstairs, and so when she
wandered back upstairs leaving the pen open behind her (this keeps them
safely on 'their' side of the living room), they were able to hop
unhindered into 'our' area.

It was some time later that they were discovered... when I was called in
to help with the emergency, Dijon was in one 'cable corner' right next
to a tablet, which was on charge with long thin cable running under his
nose to the plug - I grabbed it just in time. He had been under the
television table, were there are cables from television, and a multitude
of other devices (fortunately all turned off). Mabel was in other 'cable
corner' with a laptop charger on the floor next to her, and within reach
of plenty more cables, including the previously-nibbled sewing machine
pedal.

Fortunately they responded quickly and were soon back in their cage for
the most of the day. We have no idea how long they'd been out - we think
the large bowl of greens kept them busy for the first part.

Every cable was thoroughly checked for damage, and nothing was found...
this seemed too good to be true. Then the phone rang. Well, the upstairs
phone rang... the downstairs one was dead. Mabel had obviously hopped
past all the accessible cables, to go behind telephone table and eaten
through the phone cable.

Well, it could have been much worse - and indeed we may discover more as
days go by, but today I have taken the precaution of blocking off the
two Cable Corners. There are no cables in the bunnies' half of the room,
but that hasn't stopped them going in search of some elsewhere.

Now Mabel has only one thing on her mind: returning to that exciting
corner behind the telephone table. She has spent most of her waking
hours looking with steadfast determination towards the corner, and
rattling the puppy pen which separates her from that big adventure...

Cat's lick

It may appear from the photo that Dijon is giving himself a thorough
groom, but it's more of a cat's lick. Look at his dirty nose!

Vet Day

Mabel and Dijon are just back from a trip to the vet - annual
vaccinations and a thorough check-up. The vaccination is more important
than ever, as the vet reported that he has seen a recent increase in the
number of rabbits, domestic and wild, being diagnosed with myxomatosis.

It's always tricky to know when to get ready for a trip to the vet - too
soon and it's a stressful long wait for them, too late and we risk being
late from not being able to catch them. They saw the pet carrier box
coming this time - Dijon's usually stupid enough to walk straight in, so
I swiftly scooped up each in turn and put them in. Lots of thumping from
Dijon, who always sits rather protectively in front of Mabel.

The vet said they were both extremely healthy. Mabel has gained weight
but is still only 1.88kg, and Dijon miraculously has lost weight and is
now 2.1kg. Mabel's teeth are on the long side, so we will have to keep
an eye on that... surprising as she's the one with greater appetite for
hay, and enjoys stripping the bark from apple tree branches.

They are back safely, have groomed each other to remove all trace of the
horrid vet... and I'm very much in the dog house.